Falun Dafa Practitioner Ms. Zeng Aihua from Hong Kong Sentenced to Three Years in Prison in Shanghai

[Editor's note: It was learned that on Feb. 12, Ms. Zeng Aihua was sentenced for three years in prison. The article below was written on Feb. 7.]

Falun Dafa practitioner Ms. Zeng Aihua was detained for nearly nine months in Shanghai. She was to be tried at the Pudong District Court in Shanghai at 1:30 p.m. on February 12th, 2007. It is said that the Shanghai 610 Office¹ made an internal decision regarding her sentence before the trial, which would be announced on the same day as the trial. Following are the details:

Ms. Zeng Aihua, 58 years old, worked as the head accountant at the Shanghai branch of Northeast Securities Co. Ltd. She started practising Falun Gong in 1997. Her company had for many years awarded her the title "Outstanding Employee." She is well liked by her colleagues.

Zeng Aihua immigrated to Hong Kong in 2005 and became a Hong Kong citizen, but moved back to Shanghai several months later. Her reasons: since the information blockade existed in Mainland China, she thought people in Mainland China needed to learn the truth about Falun Dafa more than the people in Hong Kong. Late at night on May 22nd, 2006, Zeng Aihua was arrested at her home located in Shanghai. Participating in the arrest were Zhu and Zhang, heads of Section 4 from the Pudong District National Security Division and Qiu Lin, an officer from Puxing Road Police Station. The police also took several hundred VCDs with programmes produced by the New Tang Dynasty TV, VCDs of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party ,² lots of Dafa books, computer(s), mobile phone(s), and contact book(s), among other things.

Zeng Aihua has been held at the Pudong District Detention Centre in Shanghai since then. While she was held at the detention centre, Zeng Aihua was not allowed to wear her glasses while being forced to do intensive manual labour that requires good eyesight. During multiple interrogation sessions, the guards demanded her to reveal information on other Dafa practitioners. They planned to use her testimony as evidence to persecute other practitioners. Zeng Aihua refused to answer their questions and never signed any detention warrant, arrest warrant or interrogation deposition. She also went on a hunger strike to protest the detention.

At the same time Zeng Aihua's daughter, Australian citizen Chen Muhan, actively launched rescue efforts after she learned of her mother's detention, and received wide support. Many Australian Parliament Members wrote to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and requested help in rescuing Zeng Aihua. Two senators and one mayor wrote personal letters to Fu Ying, Chinese ambassador in Australia, to express their concern regarding this incident. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs brought up Zeng Aihua's case during its human rights dialogue with China in July 2006, as it had caught the attention of the Australian government. The Australian Embassy in Shanghai made numerous enquiries to the Communist government regarding the progress of Zeng Aihua's case. Although the Chinese government refused to answer any questions because Zeng Aihua is not an Australian citizen, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs made it clear in many letters sent to practitioner Zeng's daughter Chen Muhan that the Australian government is very concerned about the case and would continue to question the Chinese government and help Zeng Aihua.

Chen Muhan went to Hong Kong between July and September 2006 to call for the rescue of her mother. She sat in front of China's Liaison Office in Hong Kong nearly every day to peacefully protest the persecution. Through her efforts, several members of the Legislative Council and District Council wrote to the Communist government requesting Zeng Aihua's release. The Hong Kong Immigration Department and liaison office in Beijing also delivered many protest letters written by Zeng Haihua's family to the Shanghai police department and the local court.

The Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG) in Australia received a request from Zeng Aihua's family in December 2006 and agreed to conduct a thorough investigation as a case of persecution of an Australian citizen's family member.

Many media in Australia, Hong Kong and the USA reported Zeng Aihua's persecution in detail since her arrest, and closely followed the progress of the case.

Many people in Shanghai learned about this incident through various channels and condemned the justice department and the judicial and legal department in Pudong District and also the Shanghai "610 Office" whose agents directed the persecution behind the scenes.

Officials at Shanghai's 610 Office were very afraid when they received exposure and public pressure from inside and outside China. The 610 Office threatened Zeng Aihua's family, saying appealing for help abroad would only hurt Zeng Aihua. They also threatened to arrest Zeng Aihua's daughter if she ever went to China. They tried to stifle exposure of their crimes. At the same time, the Shanghai Judicial Bureau also pressured the Yitong Attorneys Office in Beijing where Zeng Aihua's lawyer works through the Beijing Judicial Bureau. They tried to dismiss Zeng Aihua's lawyer from the case and prevent him from defending Zeng Aihua in court.

Zeng Aihua and her family firmly refused to cooperate with the officials. The Shanghai 610 Office strictly blocked information and concealed the progress of the case as well as information on the case handlers. They also repeatedly prevented meetings between Zeng Aihua and her lawyer and cut off Zeng Aihua's contact with the outside. The court notified Zeng Aihua's family for the first time two months after the case was filed. They would not let Zeng Aihua's lawyer review the case files ten days before the trial. When Zeng Aihua's family confronted Shi Yaohui, the chief judge for Zeng Aihua's case, for deliberate violations of the law, judge Shi Yaohui made excuses and admitted he did not call the shots. Lu Wende, head of the Pudong District Court gave them the run-around and said judge Shi Yaohui was responsible for the case. Personnel from the No. 1 Intermediate People's Court in Shanghai and from the Shanghai People's High Court that are directly above the local court, did not respond to appeals sent by Zeng Aihua's family.

Zeng Aihua is now facing trial. It is learned that the Shanghai 610 Office has already decided Zeng Aihua's sentence, and the trial will merely go through the motions. The sham verdict would be announced that same day.

The persecution of Dafa in Shanghai is still quite severe now. In the past several months, many other Dafa practitioners besides Zeng Aihua were facing trials. We hope overseas Dafa practitioners can make phone calls to Shanghai and clarify the truth.

Related phone numbers:

Pudong District Procuratorate in Shanghai: 86-21-38794528

Chen Naibao: head of procuratorate

Zhou Yuguo: deputy head of procuratorate

Li Jianjun, prosecutor who filed case against Zeng Aihua: 86-21-68543348, or 86-21-38794528 ext. 86091

Appeal Office at Pudong District Procuratorate: 86-21-58852000

Pudong District People's Court in Shanghai:

Main switchboard: 86-21-38794518

Ding Shouxing: head of court

Zhang Kejian: deputy head of court

Tang Liming: deputy head of court

Chen Xueming: deputy head of court

Shi Yaohui: criminal judge who handles Zeng Aihua's case, 86-21-68541824, or 86-21-38794528 ext. 11101

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

2. Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party: Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party is a series of essays published in late 2004 that reveal the true nature of the Communist Party. The Nine Commentaries have led millions of people to renounce their membership in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). "A book that has shocked all Chinese around the world. A book that is disintegrating the Communist Party." http://ninecommentaries.com

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/2/7/148510.html